Basil and Ricotta Stuffed Chicken

 

Butterfly Chicken to open it up. IF you don't know how to do this place your knife as close to the center of the thickness as you can and place your other hand on top of the breast. Don't be afraid to put your entire hand and apply some pressure. Keeping your knife blade horizontal apply pressure as you move the blade slowly back and forth. Once you get it started you can lift up the top part of the breast to make sure your cut is pretty even and then using the tip part of your knife continue to cut as you hold the top part up so you can make sure it's even. Once you get better your will be able to do this with your eyes closed in about 5 seconds.

 



 

Then make the pesto ricotta filling. Put a couple cloves of garlic into your food processor and a good amount of fresh basil.

 

Add enough olive oil to allow it to pulse...I probably added a little too much but it's not that big of a deal. Also add some salt and pepper.

 

This is what it will look like. It can be a little thicker if you added a little less olive oil then I did.

 

Then mix in about 3 heaping TBLS of Ricotta Cheese. ( more or less depending on the consistency and your preference)

 

Then spread onto 1 side of your chicken breast.

 

Fold over and salt and pepper.

 

Bake at 400 for 20-25 min depending on the thickness of your chicken. I would say mine were about medium thickness. Use your thermometer to make sure you don't over or under cook. Alternatively you can cut though the chicken breast all the way and just put the sauce right on top of each half and cook it that way. It will cook a little bit faster that way since it's not as thick and not stuffed.

 

Once the chicken is about done somewhere around 155-160ish. Remove and sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and turn the oven to broil.

 

When it's finished it will look like this.

 

I was going to make a quick tomato sauce to put on top but I was exhausted! So this worked for a pretty easy dinner. It was pretty good. Hubs ate it in 3 bites and then had another one!